android smartphone

An interesting email just dropped into my inbox from British independent phone retailer Phones4U. On top of claiming the exclusive rights to sell the white Sony Xperia S -- on contract at least -- they have now decided to up the ante a little to pre-order customers. The first 250 people to pre-order themselves a shiny new Xperia S will receive a free, Android powered, Sony Smartwatch, valued at...

Rovio is celebrating the Angry Birds second birthday with the release of their updated version of Angry Birds. The update, available now in the Android Market, brings 15 new cake-inspired levels to the mix bringing the grand total of Angry Birds levels to 300! They managed to input some goodies as well for fans:
Party with the amazing expandable orange bird!
Check out the spiffy new menus...

This is the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX on Verizon. Looks a lot like the Motorola Droid RAZR on Verizon, doesn't it? Because it is. You can sum up the MAXX in a single sentence: It's a Motorola DROID RAZR, with a bigger battery. Period, end of story. The software's the same. The hardware's nearly identical. It just has a larger-capacity battery, making the phone slightly thicker.
That can't be the...

We noted Best Buy in the U.S. was taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note and now their Canadian stores have started as well. Although the Canadian release doesn't include any free goodies to go along with it, the price points for the device do vary across carrier with Bell coming out on top in terms of pricing.
Bell - $200
TELUS - $250
Rogers - $300
Those price points are all...

While we're not expecting to see the Sony Xperia S until early March, we're gradually seeing more and more details on the device trickling out. British retailer Clove has received a copy of the Whitepaper for the Xperia S and within its 18 pages we get a pretty detailed look into its specs.
The Playstation certified device will come pre-loaded with a copy of Need for Speed Shift, and will come...

If you're a user of Pulse News you'll want to the Android Market and grab the latest update. Getting bumped up to v2.7.4, this releases addresses some issues with dark mode and more importantly takes care of a few bugs for tablet users. It's not a huge update but it's an update either way and we like updates -- especially when they improve the end-user experience. Whether you're looking to give...

Canadian carriers have been rolling out the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for quite a while now but Mobilicity has just added their name to the mix. On their Twitter account they've made it known the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be available from them on February 6th. No pricing details were released for now but it'll no doubt fall in line with the rest of the carrier offers meaning -- it should arrive for...

To go along with the Google Maps, Listen and Goggles get updates -- Youtube Remote was also updated, though nothing really big was implemented into the app. As noted in the change log it just adds shuffle queue and addresses some previous bugs. What bugs? We don't know, but it's now sitting at v3.1.0 and you'll find the download link past the break.

Sega has been working hard to bring Sonic The Hedgehog games to Android and their latest release is now available in the Android Market. Sonic 4 Episode 1 picks up where the Sonic CD series left off and even includes some exclusive content:
2 Exclusive Levels - Two exclusive levels build specifically for smartphones using the accelerometer.
New Moves - All of Sonic's classic moves are...

Evernote is in the process of rolling out the latest iteration of their popular Android app. Today's update will push Evernote into v3.5, and it brings along plenty of changes as well. So what's new? We'll tell you as it was told to us:
Auto titles - There are times when you need to remember something on the go — a fast snapshot or a quick voice memo. Evernote is great for that. The problem...

Verizon has announced their new 4x4 Galaxy Nexus contest and you'll want to make sure you get in on the action if you haven't already. The contest will be running for the next four days and in order to win, you'll have to meet Verizons expectations for entry. The short version:
Follow @VerizonWireless on Twitter
Every day for the next 4 days, an entry timeframe will be announced that runs...

If you don't fancy the Motorola Droid RAZR in white or black and have been holding out for it to arrive in purple, your wait is now over. The purple Droid RAZR that got announced alongside the Droid RAZR MAXX at CES 2012 is now available from Verizon Wireless. There is no difference in pricing for the device so; you're looking at $200 with a new two-year agreement or $600 with no contract at...

Canadian carrier TELUS is currently rolling out an OTA update for the HTC Desire HD, bringing the device up to Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. They've posted the details up on their site with a list of changes, which are as follows:
The release of Android® Gingerbread 2.3.5 provides the following benefits and enhancements for your smartphone:
HTC Sense 3.0 (improved Calendar, Messages, Camera,...

The Nielsen Company has released their latest set of numbers and things are looking great for Android once again. According to the figures as of Q42011 46.3 percent of all smartphone owners surveyed were making use of Android while Apple was close behind with 30 percent.
Feature phones were the biggest losers here though, 46 percent of US mobile consumers chose using a smartphone over a feature...

Although there was no mention of it at CES 2012 from Samsung reps, the Samsung Galaxy Note will be making its way to Canadian soil. TELUS already has the device listed as "coming soon" on its website, but an exact date for the LTE equipped device has not been given.
Samsung though been doing a great job recently of letting folks know about device release, even before the carriers do and they now...

HTC has continued updating their developer site bootloader unlock tool with new devices and this time around they've gone ahead and added:
HTC Desire Z
HTC ChaCha
HTC Aria
Droid Incredible
HTC Status
T-Mobile G2
If you have any of those devices, and are wishing to have the bootloader unlocked then you can hit up the HTCDev site below to get started. Not sure what your...

Although Adobe has stopped all new development on the mobile front for Flash, they're keeping their word by rolling out updates to address compatibility and security concerns. The latest update for Adobe Flash Player 11 is now available in the Android Market and in addition to that, Adobe also went ahead and updated Adobe AIR as well:
This update to Adobe Flash Player 11 includes...

We went hands-on with the Droid RAZR MAXX at CES 2012 and well -- it's a Droid RAZR with a 3300 mAh battery taking place of the original 1780 mAh power source and while that's impressive in its own right, the most impressive point is that it doesn't add any extra bulk. That said; If you skipped out on the original Droid RAZR due to battery concerns, come Jan. 26 you can pick up the Droid RAZR...

Over the next little while we're slowly going to see Android 4.0 ICS rolled out to a number of devices and for some -- that may cause some havoc when it comes to app compatibility. One of the more popular podcast apps on Android, BeyondPod has now been updated to include not only better support for Ice Cream Sandwich but correct a few other issues within the app as well:
Better support for...

TELUS took to Twitter to officially the news that has been known for a few days now. They will indeed be launching the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on their network for Canadians to make use of. If you're looking to pick one up, you'll be expected to fork over $159.99 on a three year term. But, if you're not one who digs contracts TELUS will have the device for $650 outirght, $600 on a 1-year term...

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